


A Rough Start

by MamaBear7319



Series: The Happier, Friendlier Timeline (2014) [13]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Irondad, Peter goes to college, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27112384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MamaBear7319/pseuds/MamaBear7319
Summary: Peter heads off for college.  There are more changes in store for him than he anticipated.
Series: The Happier, Friendlier Timeline (2014) [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934734
Comments: 16
Kudos: 13





	1. Doppelgänger

Peter looked up from his textbook when he heard his phone. Frowning, he tapped the button and connected the call. "Dad. What's up?" He had literally talked to him 3 hours ago.

"Just making sure you're where your tracker says you are." Tony studied the details he could see in the background. Definitely Peter's bedroom at school.

"I'm in my room, in Boston. If you want to get specific, I'm actually I'm Cambridge because that's that's where the house is that you bought. Seriously, what's wrong." Peter pulled the phone closer to him and studied the expression on his dad's face.

"I'm sending you a video clip from about ten minutes ago. Bobby hasn't discovered some kind of teleportation ability has he?"

Peter frowned and tapped the file on his tablet that just came through. It showed a news clip of Spider-Man pulling people out of a turned over bus. In Queens. Except it wasn't him. "Dad, that's not me." He looked closer. "He's smaller than me. And the suit looks homemade." He looked back at his dad. "I swear it's not me."

Tony nodded. "I just wanted to make sure. I know you're struggling a little being so far from home." He paused and looked back at the video. "What do you think, wanna be superhero?"

Peter backed up the video and froze it. "He's sticky." He looked back at Tony, "Think FRIDAY can track him down?"

"Yeah." Tony looked at Peter. "I'll let you know when she finds him."

XXXXXXXXXX

Peter gently landed on the rooftop. A figure was sitting on one of the parapets with his legs hanging over the edge. He looked like he was wearing all black except Peter knew he had a crimson spider on the front. He really liked how the suit had turned out. He approached the figure and sat on the parapet next to him and swung his feet over the side.

"Thanks for the suit."

Peter had already seen the file FRIDAY had put together and knew how young the kid was. "Looks good on you."

"I was worried that you were going to be mad because I took your name but then I argued that if you made me a suit you couldn't be too mad." The kid looked over at Spider-Man, The Spider-Man. Miles didn't know what he was thinking. There's no way he could fill the shoes of Spider-Man. He wasn't a hero.

Peter smiled, although with the mask on he knew the kid couldn't see it. "I'm not mad. I am curious though."

"About how I got these powers?" Miles looked over at Spider-Man, trying to figure him out.

"Among other things, but yeah, let's start there."

"I was hanging out in one of the abandoned subway tunnels, working on a graffiti project and a spider bit me." Miles looked over at Spider-Man. "Is that how you got yours?"

"Spider bite, yes. I was on a field tip and stumbled into a lab with all of these animals and insects in containers. One of the animals jumped and it scared me. I bumped into the table with all of the cases holding the spiders and knocked them all off onto the floor." Peter looked over at Miles. "So, it's probably one of those that bit you because they all scattered when the containers broke." Peter shuddered remembering all of the spiders. He was just as arachnophobic today as he was then. "Sorry." He hadn't really thought about what had happened to all of the other spiders.

Miles shrugged. "It's ok. So did you get really sick after you got bitten?"

Peter nodded. "It was like a horrible case of flu. I really don't get sick now unless I'm hurt."

Miles smiled. "The healing part is pretty cool."

Peter nodded. Based on what he remembered Osborn saying he thought there might have been different varieties of the Super Soldier serum in the spiders. He was curious if Miles' abilities were different. "Just a heads up, broken ribs, a 4 inch knife wound, and the flu will knock you on your rear. If your healing factor is like mine it'll triage the wounds which means you end up with the flu." And you will completely freak your father out Peter thought to himself. Of course they hadn't know Tony was actually his father then. But, thinking back, Tony was acting like a parent way back then too.

"Did you have problems with the stickiness? I still get stuck to things." Miles didn't love the sticky aspects. It came in handy and he figured it was part of it but he hated randomly getting stuck to paper when he wasn't trying too.

Peter shook his head. "I've always been able to control it. I think it has something to do with the way my brain is wired." He held out the arm of the Iron Spider suit and retracted the glove and then reformed it. "Nanotech. Not everyone can control it. I'm pretty sure it works the same way the stickiness does." He looked over at Miles who was still staring at his arm. "I have a lot of trouble with sensory overload though."

Miles shook his head. "That part doesn't bother me as much."

"Be glad. There was an accident in the chem lab at school a couple years ago and I got completely overloaded. Smell, sound, touch...you name it. I still have problems from time to time." Peter looked over at the younger boy. The scientist in him found all of this fascinating. Another part of him wanted to know the rest of it. "Why did you decide to become Spider-Man?"

Miles sucked in a breath. "My dad's a cop. My uncle...my uncle has always been on the other side of the law." Miles didn't know everything his uncle was into but he knew a lot of it wasn't good. "So I've always had this pull between the two of them. I don't always get along with my dad and my uncle has always been there when I need someone to talk to. But I see what they both go through and why they do the things they do. It dawned on me one day that they both chose their path because of the same reason." He looked over at Spider-Man, "There are some really bad people out there. To survive, you either fight against them or you become them. My uncle isn't a bad guy, he just isn't strong enough to fight against them. My dad isn't strong enough to fight against them either but he does it anyway." Miles looked out over the city. "After the spider bite, I am strong enough."

Peter looked at the boy and then turned to look out on the city too. "It's a lot to take on."

"I know, and I'm not trying to fill your shoes. I'm just trying to do what I can around me." Miles paused and then turned and looked at Peter. "I've heard both my uncle and my dad talk about you. I always found it interesting that, despite being polar opposites, they both think a lot of you. My dad would talk about how Spider-Man had stopped a mugging or a robbery and had left the bad guys neatly wrapped up for them. And how it made their job easier. There are never enough cops and always too many bad guys. My uncle met you once. You saved his life. It was right after you started hearing about Spider-Man. I don't know all of the details but it was around the time when you took down that Vulture guy. I just want to try to make a difference like you do. Maybe stop my dad or my uncle from getting killed. When I got bit, no one had seen you for a couple weeks. I thought I could fill in for you while you were gone." Miles looked over at Spider-Man. "If you're back..."

Peter shook his head. "I haven't been around because I'm at college. So if you want to fill in for me while I'm gone I'm ok with it."

"Really!" Miles grinned at Spider-Man. "That's awesome."

"Just don't try to take on too much. Just help people out. If you run across anything too big to handle yourself, I left a way to contact me with the suit." Peter paused, "or if you ever just need someone you can trust. Spiders need to stick together." Peter pushed up to a standing position. "Good luck kid." Flinging his wrist he shot a web as he dove off the building. After all this time he still loved the feeling. He took his time getting back to the tower. He really couldn't swing like this at school. His time spent as Spider-Man was reduced to when he thought he could get away with no one seeing him.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tony saw the glint of the gold on the Iron Spider suit as FRIDAY told him Peter was nearing the tower. He watched him approach and then gently land within a couple feet of where he was standing. "How did it go?"

Peter retracted the mask, then let the rest of the suit retract into the nanohousing on his watch. "He's a good kid." He shrugged. "It's kind of weird...it's almost a relief that he's patrolling. I think he's doing it for the right reasons."

Tony nodded and continued to study his son's face. Spider-Man meant a lot to Peter so the fact that he was willing to share the name was a big deal. "The number is set up to go to FRIDAY. If he needs help she can send an SOS. If he just needs someone to talk to she'll connect him to Karen."

Peter nodded and looked at the skyline. He missed this. Boston wasn't the same but he knew college was something he needed to do. "Thanks dad."


	2. The Odyssey

Peter put a plate of loaded nachos on the table slid into the booth across from Bobby. The Odyssey had quickly become their favorite hangout. It was a dive bar at best, but it had pool tables, classic video games, and decent bar food. A couple other people from labs and classes joined them on occasion, some enjoying the fact that it was an actual bar a little too much. Peter realized that he could easily order any drink he wanted, but with his metabolism it would be like throwing money down the drain and old habits died hard. Plus, he was pretty sure he had inherited his dad's issues with substance abuse. After the accident it was one of the things they had talked about while they were at Clint's cabin. Peter hadn't turned to pain killers but his desire to escape meant all of the underlying psychological reasons were there. When they found out that Tony was biologically his father, all of Peter's coping mechanisms started making a lot more sense.

"Are you ready for your physics test next week?" Bobby asked as Peter settled into the booth.

Peter nodded and took a sip of his lemonade. Unlike some of the other places students chose to hang out, the Odyssey did not play obnoxiously loud music which meant that Peter didn't struggle with everything being too loud. "We haven't gotten to anything I haven't done before. How about your trig test?"

Before Bobby could answer a group walked over to their booth and squeezed in next to them. "Please tell me you two aren't talking about school. It's officially the weekend." The girl that had slid into the booth next to Bobby looked across at Peter. "Plus, you both have the highest grades in the classes I have with you. You need to give the rest of us a chance."

Peter smiled across the table. "Gwen, you don't need anyone's help. We all know you're holding your own."

She shrugged, "Still, it would be nice to have the top score on a test. We're halfway through the first semester and that hasn't happened yet." She reached. over and grabbed one of Bobby's mozzarella sticks and took a bite.

"Don't hold your breath Gwen. I had to go up against Midtown for Academic Decathlon in high school. They crushed it every time. The boy knows his science." The boy slid into the booth next to Peter, pushing him over to make room.

"Wyatt, it's not like we won all of our meets." Peter looked over at the newcomer.

Wyatt picked in his beer and took a sip. "You all went to Nationals three years in a row."

"We're going to play pool, anyone want to come?" The rest of the group looked down at the foursome. "Gwen, you owe us a rematch."

Shrugging she stood up. "Only if you want to be beat by a girl again." She looked over at Peter and winked. "Save me some nachos."

Wyatt picked up his beer and stood to follow. "I better make sure Johnny doesn't loose too much money. Gwen beats him every time they play."

Bobby and Peter watched the group descend on the pool tables. "You sure you don't want to play?"

Peter shook his head. "I hate having to act like I can't make every shot. It's like golf. If I make every shot people ask me to many questions. Plus, I'm starving."

"If Pepper finds out all you're eating is bar food we'll end up with a live in chef." Bobby reached over and grabbed a nacho off of Peter's plate.

"Then we need to make sure she doesn't fine out." Peter grinned as he shoved another nacho into his mouth.

XXXXXXXXXX

Peter had found himself actually enjoying hanging out with this group. He and Ned had been pegged as nerds at an early age and it had stuck all the way through school. Even at what would be considered a 'nerd school' they were still in a different category that most definitely wasn't the cool group. Here, it was different. Maybe it was because no one really had an established group of friends. It was like everyone was starting over and reestablishing their 'groups'.

He was immensely grateful Bobby was his roommate. Having someone who knew who he was made him less self conscious. Before Ned had found out he had felt isolated. There was a huge part of his life that he had to keep hidden. Now, when they were at home he could walk on the ceiling without freaking anyone out. He knew Bobby felt the same relief at not having to hide his powers all the time.

Bobby was also a great person to vent to when he got frustrated at not being able to go out as Spider-Man. Bobby could be blunt but at times that was exactly what Peter needed. His dad and Ned were both almost too sympathetic. Bobby would tell him to suck it up and then pull Peter into their gym at home and make him train. It was something else he was really glad his dad had put in when he bought the house. Peter thought he was going overboard but Tony knew Peter would have to have a way to burn off excess energy if he wasn't Spider-Manning every night. It also turned out that Peter had picked up quite a few things from Natasha and Steve over the last couple years. Things that benefited Bobby tremendously. Professor Xavier and the rest of the mutants at the school had focused on training him to use his powers, but hadn't focused as much on how to actually fight. So that's what Peter and Bobby did.

Peter was leaning against the wall watching Gwen destroy everyone at pool when the familiar tingle started. He turned us attention towards the back of the room. His Spidey sense was going off but not in the normal 'you're about to get hurt' way. He glanced around and saw a couple guys walking out the back door. Knowing it led to an alley, he stood up and headed in that direction. Gently pushing the door open he stepped out into the dimly lit area. The guys he had seen leaving had made their way to the far end of the alley and had girl cornered against the wall. As the Iron Spider suit formed around him he felt a change in temperature behind him.

"What? I'm backup."

Peter turned away from Bobby, who had transformed into his ice form and started towards the group. "You probably should leave her alone." His voice drew the attention of the group.

The group turned to look at where the voice had come from. "It's a little early for trick or treat."

"That's Spider-Man." One of the group nudged the leader.

"Who?" The leader eyed Spider-Man and Iceman. "They just look like freaks to me." As he turned back to his prey, a dagger of ice embedded in the wall next to his head.

"Not freaks." Iceman gestured to himself, once he had his attention. "Mutant." Then he tilted his head towards Spider-Man. "But he's on a whole other level."

Peter saw a glint of a steel knife in the leaders hand. "Ok...I'm done." He flipped his wrist and yanked the knife out of the man's hand. "Didn't your mother tell you knives are dangerous?"

The action was enough for the guys to move away from the girl, allowing her to escape. Peter focused on the group in front of him. "You need to go home."

The leader charged Peter which spurred the rest of them to attack as well. Peter easily flipped over the leaders attack. He heard him smack into Bobby and crumple into an unconscious lump on the ground. Peter flung his wrists and webbed up two of the guys, leaving two remaining. Seeing the state of their friends they took off running out of the alley.

"Karen, check for cameras." Peter looked around the alley himself. He knew there was one on the back of the building but he also knew he and Bobby had 'suited up' out of frame.

"Three cameras active. All caught the incident, none would have been able to identify you or Mr. Drake."

"Cool." He looked back at Bobby. "You good?" Bobby nodded and they both retreated back to the camera's blind spot to transform


	3. Exposed

Bobby froze, spoon halfway to his mouth, at the sight of Iron Man...well, the Iron Man armor retreating to Mr. Stark's nanohousing, walking into the kitchen. He thought he had heard something but wasn't sure what it was and was honestly too tired to investigate. "Um...he's still asleep."

Tony nodded and walked down the hallway to Peter's bedroom. He thought about knocking but opted not to. Pushing the door open, he stopped at looked at the lump on the bed that was Peter. He couldn't help but to smile a little. Peter always looked so much younger when he was asleep. Walking over he sat down on the bed. "Up and at 'em kid."

Peter groaned. He distinctly heard his dad's voice but that couldn't be right. He snuggled into the covers more and pressed his arm further over his head.

"Yeah, not doing this right now. We've got a situation."

Peter's eyes snapped open and he moved his arm enough to look over at his dad, who indeed was sitting on his bed. In Boston. "What situation? Why are you here." He glanced over at the clock and groaned again. "At 6:30 in the morning."

Tony pulled up something on his phone and tapped it to bring up the hologram. Handing it to Peter he waited for it to sink in.

Peter looked at the hologram of a tabloid newspaper. Skimming the display the first thing that jumped out at him was the headline. 'Following in his Father's Footsteps'. Frowning he read the rest of it. Accompanying the headline was a picture of him at The Odyssey with his friends. Pushing himself up into a sitting position he read through the captions on the cover. "Ok, we'll first of all...she's not a bimbo. Second...no, we're not dating. Third...that's my lemonade in case you were curious." He pointed to the glass with the straw in it among the bottles on the table.

"Yeah, I know all of that...the problem is the general public doesn't. They see my kid, who's eighteen, in a bar, with a pretty blond. The headline wasn't a big leap." Tony looked at Peter. "I thought you'd be more concerned that it's out that you're my son."

Peter shrugged and looked over at his dad. "We knew it would get out eventually. I've only got two more finals before winter break so it's not a bad time for it to happen."

Tony narrowed his eyes and looked at Peter. "There are reporters camped outside."

Peter groaned and reached over to grab his phone off his nightstand.

"What are you doing?" Tony watched Peter tap out a text.

"Apologizing to Gwen for what the article says about her and telling her she might not want to leave her apartment today."

XXXXXXXXXX

Peter slid the blinds back and looked out the window. Panic set in. He was way calmer an hour ago. Since then he had showered and gotten yelled at by Gwen on the phone. The reality of the media circus in front of his house was setting in and he was freaking out. "Dad, what do we do?"

Tony was remarkably calm. Part of him knew it was partially attributed to the fact that he could now tell Peter and Pepper 'I told you so'. It wasn't often he could say that to Pepper. They should have had a press conference over the summer but both of them had voted him down. "When are your finals?"

Peter had started pacing somewhat like a trapped animal. He looked over at Bobby who was sitting unnaturally still, but he could tell he was just as freaked out. "Both of them are tomorrow. Physics and Chemistry."

Tony almost laughed. This was going to be the easy part. "You've got Hopkins for physics, right? Sampson for Chemistry?"

Peter nodded and watched his dad hit a contact in his phone. "Mike...it's Tony." Peter zoned out after that...of course his dad had his professors on speed dial. It was one of the reasons Peter had wanted to hold off on any kind of announcement. When he was in high school it was about protecting the status quo. When he started college it was because Peter wanted to be seen as Peter, not the great Tony Stark's son. Hopefully he had made enough of an impression that all of his professors would see him and not his dad.

"Problem solved. You can take your finals in January. That'll give everything time to die down." Tony looked from Peter to Bobby. "Next problem, getting the two of you out of here. I wouldn't worry about packing anything. Grab your phones, wallets, whatever you absolutely need until January. Hopefully we can just drive out of here." He stared at the two boys and waited for them to move.

Peter grabbed his keys and tossed them to his dad. He was immensely grateful they had a garage right now. After Bobby had gotten in the back seat, he slid into the passenger seat and waited for his dad to get in. Instead, he watched him trigger the remote on the garage door and walk outside. Peter wished he could hear him better. When Tony Stark spoke people listened. While you couldn't hear the threat in his voice, Peter could definitely see it in the way he held his body and he could absolutely see it in his eyes, even hidden behind his trademark glasses, when he slid into the drivers seat.

"Pete, head up, eyes front. If they see panic it'll make it that much worse."

Peter did as his dad instructed and watched the sea of reporters part as Tony drove out of the garage. Stopping long enough to make sure the door was shut behind them, Tony simply drove down the driveway and onto the street. Peter looked at the chaos around him. On top of just reporters there were news trucks clogging most of the street. "This is ridiculous."

"Which is why we needed to control the release of information." Tony stopped just short of saying 'I told you so'. He recognized the look of controlled panic on Peter's face. "Pepper is working on logistics for a press conference. We can introduce Morgan to the world as well. Pepper is tired of trying to dodge photographers any time she goes out with her." He glanced over at Peter who was processing everything. "That way your sister can back you up if it gets to dicey." He smiled when that brought a grin to Peter's face. "Relax, it won't be that bad."

XXXXXXXXXX

Peter decided that his dad's version of 'not that bad' and his version were totally different. They had always known that...Peter took a knife wound as something that just happened in a normal patrol. His dad saw it as an Avenger level threat. But, when it came to press conferences and media appearances their positions were reversed. Peter definitely felt like he needed backup right now as he paced in his bedroom. Pepper had arranged for a handpicked reporter to interview the family in their home. Peter thought it really was a stroke of genius on her part. All of the uproar over his relationship with Tony was just the last straw in what they had all gone through since Morgan had been born. Peter did not understand why the world cared about him, or Morgan, or what their home looked like...which apparently was a huge bargaining chip according to Pepper. Tony had always had a very public side which everyone saw and then an incredibly private side that no one but those closest to him saw. Apparently letting a reporter and a video crew into the 'inner sanctum' was a big deal, even if it was just their living room.

He had been prepped for the last week. How to sit, how to respond to questions, what to do with his hands, the expressions on his face. It was easier training to fight super villains. He didn't know how Pepper handled all of this so naturally. But she did, and he knew this would go off perfectly because Pepper wouldn't allow anything else. He took a deep breath and pulled open his door to walk into the most uncomfortable situation he had been in...ever.


	4. Winter Break

Peter looked down at his phone when it buzzed and froze. The alert that came across was one he hadn't seen in a couple months. MJ.

_"Are you ok? I saw the article."_

Tony saw the look of abject terror on Peter's face. "What's wrong?"

Peter slid his phone across the lab table. "What do I do?"

Tony fought the grin that wanted to appear on his face. "What do you want to do?"

Peter stared at his phone. "It's MJ."

"Ok. That doesn't answer the question." Tony sat back in his chair and watched his son process the question.

Peter glanced up at his dad, eyes pleading for guidance. "It's MJ."

Tony crossed his arms. "You haven't talked to her in a couple months."

Peter frowned. Not talking to her wasn't by choice. "I know. And she just texted me."

"So text her back."

Yeah. Text her back. Seemed so simple. "It's not that easy. I don't know what she's expecting." Peter looked at his dad.

Tony sighed. "You're never going to know what she or any other female is expecting. Get used to it now. But, you need to figure out what you want. Once you know that it makes the rest of it easier."

Peter shook his head. "That's not helping."

"Ok." Tony decided to try a different tactic. "So Gwen. Was there anything there?"

Peter frowned. He hadn't expect the shift from MJ to Gwen. "We were friends. Are friends. I think."

"Could there have been something more than friendship?" Tony was pretty sure he knew the answer, he just wanted Peter to get there on his own.

Peter shrugged. "Maybe." He paused. "But MJ..."

"But MJ." Tony smiled. "If you want to figure out what MJ is expecting you have to start by talking to her." He slid Peter's phone back across the lab table. "I would start with answering her question."

Peter frowned but picked up his phone. After typing and backspacing and typing again he looked up when he heard Tony sigh. "What?"

"You're overthinking this. I know you're multiple steps out from sending a simple text in your head. Playing out different results. Normally, I'm right there with you, but in this case, you're 18. Just answer the question."

Peter sighed and backspaced everything he had just typed and started again.

_”I'm ok. Media circus was ridiculous. Had to do an interview with Dad, Pepper, and Morgan. First team up with Morgan...she did great as backup!"_ He hit send and felt a little better. Deciding to throw caution to the wind he added, _“How was your first semester at Princeton?"_

XXXXXXXXXX

Pepper walked into the living room after putting Morgan down for a nap and looked over at Tony when she saw Peter laying on the sofa with his feet over the back, phone in hand. "What's he doing?"

Tony grinned. "Being a teenager. MJ texted him."

Pepper smiled. "How's it going?"

Tony shrugged. "He's struggling with not overthinking it."

"Did he ask if she wanted to go see Star Wars with him and Ned tonight?"

"Yes. She said no." That simple question and answer had caused an extraordinary amount of panic in Peter. Tony was enjoying being able to help talk his son through this. He thought he was actually doing pretty good so far.

"Good. I would have worried if she had said yes. She's always hated Star Wars."

Tony raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I would have thought her going with them was a good thing."

Pepper shook her head. "One of the things that makes MJ...well MJ, is that she knows who she is and she doesn't compromise. If she were to go see Star Wars with the boys then it means that she's doing something she doesn't want to do just to see Peter. Which sounds great but doesn't sound like MJ."

Tony shook his head. "That makes no sense."

Pepper leaned over and kissed Tony on the cheek. "Which is why you're lucky to have me and not the multitude of other options you had...they had no substance. Like me, MJ has substance."

XXXXXXXXXX

Tony looked up from the tablet he was reading when Peter stepped off the elevator. "How was the movie?"

Peter walked over to the sofa and vaulted over the back to land next to Tony. "I don't know. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either. I might need to see it a couple more times."

Tony laughed. "You know, if we had done the press conference over the summer like I wanted, you and Ned could have gone to the premier instead."

Peter shook his head. "I officially do not like press or cameras."

"I hate to tell you kid, press and cameras are now officially part of your life." Tony laughed at the look of disgust on Peter's face. "I was thinking you and I could head to the compound for a couple days. What do you have planned?"

"Ned leaves tomorrow to visit family." Which meant he would have to convince someone else to go see Star Wars with him again. Maybe if they were at the compound he could either pick up Bobby or talk Bucky into going with him.

"How about MJ."

Peter frowned. "She's leaving to visit family too. Won't be back until after I leave to go back to school." Peter audibly sighed. "I wish she had gone to the movies with us."

"According to Pepper its a good thing that she didn't." Tony looked over at Peter. "Yeah, I don't understand it either. But when it comes to stuff like this, she know more than we do."

XXXXXXXXXX

Tony pulled through the gate of the compound and made his way to the side entrance. Natasha, Steve, Bucky, and Sam walked outside as he pulled the car to a stop. The second Peter get out of the car, Natasha wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. "We missed our youngest Avenger."

Peter grinned and hugged her back. "I missed you too."

Natasha let go of Peter and looked at Tony. "We thought we'd let you two get settled and then hit the training room." She glanced over at Peter. "We want to make sure you're not out of shape."

Peter grabbed his bag. "I'm not out of shape. I even went out as Spider-Man last night and didn't get hurt."

Steve looked at Tony and Peter. "How does that work? Don't people wonder why there are two of you?"

Peter shook his head. "I worked it out with Miles. He had family in town anyway. There's a lot to be said for the ability to cover for each other if anyone gets too close to knowing the truth."

"Good plan." Steve nodded his approval. He glanced over at Tony. "Tony, there's something you should know. We're hearing some reports that Ross and Ellis have had a falling out and that Ross is out as Secretary of State in January."

Peter looked from Steve to Tony and back to Steve. "You two don't look thrilled about that. I would have thought with as much as everyone dislikes Ross, you would be happy to see him out of power."

Natasha interjected. "In the position of Secretary of State we could keep tabs on him. On his own we won't be able to. And, he has a lot of contacts that he's made over the years."

Tony threw his duffel bag over his shoulder and started toward the elevator. Ross out as Secretary of State was big. He glanced behind him and saw Peter talking to Bucky and Sam, probably trying to convince them to go see Star Wars with him. He turned his attention to Natasha. "How sure is the intel?"

"Rhodey is in DC trying to confirm." She glanced back at Peter, verifying he was still distracted by Bucky and Sam. "I don't like it. We're working contacts trying to identify his network. Unrestrained by the office he could cause problems."

Tony walked into the elevator as it opened, FRIDAY holding it for Peter. "We'll meet you in the training room in 30 minutes." He thought through everything Natasha had said as Peter stood next to him on the ride up to their floor.

"You're worried."

Tony knew it was a statement and not a question. "Natasha has a handle on it. Let's just make sure your training isn't slipping."


End file.
